Re: 2010 FIFA World Cup!

^^ para kang nagtatanong ng nawawalang kalabaw.

anyway, in 2006, italy was crowned world cup champs against france in what is now known as the headbutt finals, when zinedine zidane rammed his cranium against the chest of italy's materrazzi after the latter allegedly maligned zidane's mother and heritage. although france lost, zidane was awarded the MVP. my opinion is that italy's fabio cannavaro should have won the accolade for his exceptional performance as defender. in the 2006 world cup, italy conceded all of two goals, which comprised of an own goal in the elims and a penalty goal in the title game.

this year, it's the rash of injuries among football's elite that threaten to overshadow the games. beckham, ronaldo, drogba--marami ang di makakapaglaro o maglalarong may iniinda.

let's see. here are the brackets:

GROUP A: south africa, mexico, uruguay, france (mexico is on a roll. i don't know about france's chances kaya may nagsasabing malakas daw ang tsansa ng south africa dahil swerte daw ang host countries sa world cup. which is why i propose that we host it as well ;D)
GROUP B: argentina, nigeria, north korea, greece (malamang argentina and nigeria ang lulusot dito)
GROUP C: england, USA, algeria, slovenia (ang swerte naman ng US at england ;D)
GROUP D: germany, australia, ghana, serbia (germany and ghana will likely advance in this group)
GROUP E: netherlands, denmark, japan, cameroon (i like the chances of netherlands and cameroon. japan is a dark horse)
GROUP F: italy, paraguay, new zealand, slovakia (ang swerte din ng defending champs!)
GROUP G: brazil, north korea, ivory coast, portugal (it'll be brazil and ivory coast. ronaldo of portugal, as mentioned, is still hobbling)
GROUP H: spain, switzerland, honduras, chile (spain is a shoo-in here. 2nd spot up for grabs)

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There are many stellar players here but only one box-office manager – and Argentina's icon basks in the attention

Madman, genius, cheat, hero, addict, maverick, lover, fighter – it's fair to say that without Diego Maradona, there would have been no Richie Cunningham. There may be many star players at this World Cup, but there is unquestionably only one star manager. Five feet five inches of pirate-bearded, earringed rebuke to the rimless spectacle brigade, Argentina's most prodigal son remains terminally self-effacing. As he explained to those wondering about surprises on the teamsheet: "The surprise is me. I am the only surprise in this whole team."

The fact that he is box office does not entirely escape him. "I'd like to thank the journalists for being here," he began, at a press conference ahead of Argentina's opening game against Nigeria tomorrow. "I never expected so many of them … but I feel good seeing them all here."

And if 250 hacks seemed faintly excessive for a 20 minute appearance, Maradona stressed it was vital that they shouldn't think this World Cup only happened because of him. Although having said that, he had been pretty instrumental, after meeting a doomsaying player at the most recent Cup of Nations. "Somebody – I don't know who he is, he wore a No10 – said Africa would not be able to host this," Maradona explained. "So, I went to meet with Danny Jordaan, and I told him: 'Rest assured, the World Cup will be played in South Africa." A reassurance which must have been gratefully received by Jordaan, South Africa's World Cup CEO.

As an elder statesman of the game, Maradona can struggle to convince. "Let's really look for fair play," he pleaded, fixing his audience with a pained expression. "The referees should understand what fair play is. If you don't want to play clean football, go and sit in the stands.

Re: 2010 FIFA World Cup!

Soccer is slowly but surely convincing me to move away from supporting basketball, to supporting this sport instead, thanks to the World Cup Games.

Matches for today (Sunday, June 20, 2010):

* 7:30 pm Slovakia vs. Paraguay
- Slovakia has shown a lot of grit in their game against the US a couple of days ago, it would be interesting to watch them play again.

* 10:00 pm Italy vs. New Zealand
- A game with a football power like Italy is always interesting

* 2:30 am Brazil vs. Ivory Coast
- Another football superpower Brazil, against Didier Drogba, a Premier League star. This should prove interesting, if only for the superstar attractions from both sides

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Re: 2010 FIFA World Cup!

* Paraguay beats Slovenia, 2-0
- Bad news for the US team. They had a hard time against Slovenia, and by all accounts Paraguay manhandled Slovenia. That seems to show how far the US is from being the favorites in this World Cup.

* Italy draws with New Zealand, 1-1
- Italy initially looked very impressive. They play with a lot of calm and composure, and they were magnificent with their passing plays, both on defense and offense, the best I have seen so far among the teams. The problem is that despite them dominating possession and attempts, they just couldn't seem to score. They kept attacking the All-Whites all game round, attempt after attempt ... but just couldn't get the ball in between the posts. I get the impression that the Italians play very well technically AS A TEAM, but just don't have that extra individual skill that would enable them to dominate their opponents easily in terms of scoring. And to think this game was against a team ranked so far down compared to them. They are among the favorites, but the way this game ended up, I think its a wide open field out there for the championship.

* Brazil beats Ivory Coast, 3-1
- Wasn't able to watch the match, but it seems Brazil was stroetching its muscle and showing everybody who's boss. After Germany's second game meltdown, the name of game in this tournament is consistency, though. It still remains to be seen how consistent Brazil will be in the coming games.

Not so interesting matches today, Monday, June 21, 2010, about the only real interest is whether Spain can bounce back from the humiliation of its first game:

* 7:30 pm Portugal vs. North Korea

* 10:00 pm Chile vs. Switzerland

* 2:30 am Spain vs. Honduras

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Re: 2010 FIFA World Cup!

Originally Posted by Schortsanitis

* Paraguay beats Slovenia, 2-0
- Bad news for the US team. They had a hard time against Slovenia, and by all accounts Paraguay manhandled Slovenia. That seems to show how far the US is from being the favorites in this World Cup.

Actually, it was Paraguay against Slovakia. US and Slovenia are in a completely different group. ;D